Search form

You are here

Mechanic gets bus safely back on the road

While our yellow school buses are ubiquitous in our community, most people do not realize what it takes to keep our 380 buses in top working order so they can safely carry 11,000 students to and from school daily.

Behind the scenes, the Douglas County School District (DCSD) has a dedicated group of mechanics based at our three bus terminals who work tirelessly to provide the maintenance and repairs needed to keep our fleet at peak performance. What really makes these mechanics stand out, however, is their responsiveness even after hours.

Recently, Transportation Director Donna Grattino received a call for assistance from a school bus for a neighboring district. Returning from a field trip, the bus encountered mechanical problems and the driver and passengers were stranded along I-25 by Larkspur, just south of Castle Rock.

With a quick call to shop foreman Jeff Pihl, a rescue mission was launched. West Terminal mechanic Nick Dehaan quickly responded to the after hours call for help and within an hour

he repaired the bus and the grateful driver and passengers were back on the road.

This is just one example of the willingness of our bus drivers, mechanics, planners, and dispatchers that make up the Transportation department, to go the extra mile. Kudos to Nick, Jeff and the entire Transportation team for their service to the DSCD community.